National Solar Tour: First Stop- Anchorage, AK

The first tour to take place on the annual ASES National Solar Tour event was located in Anchorage, Alaska on June 9th, 2012. This was a free, self-guided tour that looked at installations of Solar Thermal, PV, and other Renewable Energy and Green Building technology at seven different locations, both commercial and residential. The goal of this tour was to show local neighbors how to be sustainable by cutting their energy bills and generating their own electricity. The tour taught that it is possible to save up to 70% in water heating bills by using solar collectors as well as saving 20% on your electric bills.

The tour organizer, Andy Baker, led a group throughout the tour as well as informed them on some of the prevalent technologies at each location. He states that:

“Solar is the most accessible energy we have. The cost of energy is going to continue to increase in the future, but the sun will still be free. So the more we learn to use this and bring the cost down, the greater the future we can expect from it.”

To see more details on the sites on the Anchorage Solar Tour, click here. Alaska’s local news source, KTUU, did a feature on the Solar Tour. If you want to view this, please click here and go to 7:15 seconds.

Photo Credit: Solar Building by greenmommaadventures.wordpress.com

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ASES will hold numerous Solar Tours this fall throughout the country where you can show your home, host a tour or go on a tour. If you’d like to donate to support ASES in its mission to promote solar, please click here.